Energy efficiency, “greenness” and sustainability are important issues in the telecommunications industry. It has been shown that energy costs may consume 10-15% of the total operating expenses (OPEX) in mature markets and up to 50% in developing markets with high proportion of off-grid sites. Especially in the context of an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 50001 certification and potential energy efficiency goals, operators as well as telecom equipment providers may be required to reduce their energy footprint and related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,904,115 shows a telecommunication apparatus comprising a plurality of traffic handling units and a plurality of power supply units powering the traffic handling units. Control means are provided for determining a power budget based on a power criterion. The control means activate an amount of traffic handling units and power supply units having a total power consumption equal to or less than the power budget. The power criterion for determining the power budget may comprise power related parameters, such as an amount of solar cell generated power, a charging condition of a backup battery, a value of a mains voltage, or a failure of a power supply unit of the apparatus.
Therefore, there may be a need for efficiently managing, in particular reducing, power consumption in telecommunication systems.